TODAY might mark his 400th game in charge at Everton, but David Moyes is in no mood for nostalgia.

The Blues boss is hurting. Hurting because this supposedly special season is in danger of becoming especially awful, hurting because his side were humiliated at home by West Brom, and hurting because the doubters who whispered negativity at him when he arrived on Merseyside in 2002 are yet to be shut up once and for all.

But the Scot’s zeal and belief in hard work, the one thing he can control entirely which is unconnected to worries about finance, can still lead to success.

It is something he will demand, as ever, at Stamford Bridge today, as he calls for his players to show that they too are hurting at the club’s perilous league position.

“I really want to be successful with Everton,” he says.

“That has been my goal, I have been driven.

“Lots of people said when I arrived that I wouldn’t be able to turn Everton around and that drove me on.

“My inspiration was to prove them wrong. I started this season thinking this was my best ever chance – even better than the year we qualified – to get into the top four, so you can imagine how disappointed I feel.

“I thought this was the one. I now have to change and make sure I get a team that goes back to showing we have a bit of fire in our belly.”

Last season, Everton achieved a morale-boosting 3-3 draw against Carlo Ancelotti’s side who were en route to the title.

Remarkably, they later beat them at Goodison Park as a much-needed post Christmas surge in form burst into life.

Yet it was avoiding the need for such heroics in the New Year that occupied Moyes’ focus in pre-season.

Getting off to a flying start, and targeting Europe from the outset was the new, explicit blueprint Moyes finally felt ready to announce publicly.

“I made a change this year in my approach,” he says. “I am always a bit cautious so most years I would say let’s get the points to be safe from relegation and we move on from there.

“That wasn’t my start this year. My start this year was nothing like that.

“It was to say we are aiming to finish in the top six. I had changed and I wanted that to get to the players and come out through the supporters.

“I wanted not to get off to a bad start, so I tried to change everything to avoid that. Maybe I should have just said to get the points to avoid relegation.

“It’s tough at lots of times. I have a really good group of players, good players, and they are due to show. They all think it as well, I think it, so come on then.

“You might miss chances, but you keep making them, but what you don’t do is lose.

“Eventually that happens and you get deflated but you have to keep going, keep doing what you believe in and your fortunes will change. I want them to show it’s hurting them as much as it’s hurting me.

“They have a great spirit and part of that comes from winning, but also from the types of players you have in the group, and they know the manager’s not happy so we will need to see where we go.”

With Michael Essien and John Terry back, Moyes is grateful to have Phil Neville returning today – but was angry nobody took up the captain’s mantle last weekend.

“I think they are looking to be led by the manager,” he says.

“They are looking for direction and I will continue to give that. I said to them before the game: ‘Come on then. We haven’t got Phil Neville in the team – who is going to take the real responsibility? Who wants it?’

“It’s my team but there is also a part where I am saying ‘who is going to take responsibility when you cross over the white line?’ Phil Neville every week will put his hands up and try and do it. But nobody did that last week.”